The gold rush is on!  This time, though, no one is digging the stuff out of mountain mines or panning for it in streams.  The 2009 gold rush consists of people digging through jewelry boxes and knick-knack drawers searching for spare gold items that are gathering dust.

With the economy in its current lousy state, the price of gold has hopped considerably.  While some investors are interested in stockpiling the stuff, regular Joes and Janes with scrap gold in their homes are looking for ways to transform their unused “junk” into some much-needed cash.

If you can bear an hour or two in front of the tube during the afternoon, you’ll find yourself bombarded by companies who are willing, ready and able to make you a cash offer for your gold.  You send it in, the send you a check.  If you don’t like the offer, you send it back.  They then return your gold.  This previously little-known enterprise is now a TV advertising special.

Those “cash for gold” places may not be the best place to peddle your wares, though.  They’re notorious for making questionable offers and people have had problems with getting items back when they get a low-ball check in the mail.

So, if you don’t move your gold via one of those companies, what’s the best route to follow?

There’s no easy answer to that one.  If you’re looking to figure out how to sell your gold the right way, it’s probably going to involve shopping your items around for the best possible offer.  You have multiple options.  Some jewelers might be interested in the nicer stuff (or even the scrap in some cases).  Pawn shops will occasionally surprise you with a good offer.  There are folks who specialize in gold buying, too.

The quality of offers isn’t consistent across any one type of establishment, though.  That’s why you should prepare to make a few phone calls to find out what kind of deal you might get.

The trick to making this work, however,  is having a little understanding of what you’re selling and how much its probably worth.  Although the design and age of piece of jewelry can influence value, we’ll be discussing the gold itself in this post.  If you have a collectible or something that’s just drop-dead gorgeous, it’s a whole different story.

First, figure out what kind of gold you have.  Is it 24k, 14k, 10k or what?  That matters.  The karat description gives you an idea of just how pure the gold is.  You can think of it this way…  24k gold is pretty close to pure.  24 out of 24 parts are the real deal.  18k, on the other hand, consists of 18k of gold and 6 of other alloys.  It works that way right down the line.

Second, figure out how much of it you have.  Gold is generally measured in pennyweight or troy ounces.  Get access to a jeweler’s scale and find out what the weight of your available gold is.  You can even use a kitchen scale, but you’ll need to convert the weight into one of those two units of measurement.

Third, find out the current market value of gold.  You can get that number from the daily paper.

Now, you put it all together the weight of your gold, multiplied by its purity percentage multiplied by the current value per unit will render a “market value” for the actual gold in your jewelry.

Remember, however, that whoever buys it is going to need to melt it down.  They have overhead expenses, too.  Thus, you can’t expect to receive 100% of your calculation.  At least one reputable source says you should shoot for about 85% of your calculation.

Now, start collecting offers.  Call people and tell them exactly what you have.  Give them the karat number and the weight.  Now you’ll recognize it if someone is trying to take advantage of you.  It will also give you a base pooint for negotiating prices.

Do your research and find the buyer willing to offer the best deal.  Then, if it makes more sense for you to sell than it does to keep your gold, make the transaction.  If you can’t get a good number, you might want to sit on your gold for awhile.  In a worst case scenario, you can send your stuff in to one of those TV companies.  You might not get much, but you’ll probably get something.